Your Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, Hon. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta.
Your Excellencies, Representatives of High Commissioners and Ambassadors.
Fellow leaders, Dear Kenyans. Wherever you are watching this event from across our nation.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
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57 years ago, Kenyans made sacrifices for us to have the most important thing in life, which is to make decisions for ourselves, and to chat our destiny.
We have had a journey of 57 years and every generation, every government has had to grapple with tough decisions when faced with challenges as a nation.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
But in no generation, and no government has experienced the kind of challenge the COVID-19 pandemic has caused to our country.
Today, this celebration is unique. It has never happened like this.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
Today, our schools are closed, our places of worship are shut. Millions of Kenyans have had to leave work. Traders and business people have had their businesses affected.
Our life as a nation and as the global community is upside down.
To use the words of Mutahi Kagwe, things are really abnormal.
In fact, while it was normal for somebody to cough, nowadays, when somebody coughs, others will step back and ask whether everything is okay.
I remember the other day, when I went back home, working from the office at the residence, and inadvertently I stretched my hand to my young daughter to greet her.
She told me off and instead told me, ‘there is the sanitizer’.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
That is how abnormal things are today.
But when you called the nation to action because of this pandemic, the response from the Kenyan people was unprecedented.
Every Kenyan stepped forward. Millions of Kenyans are wearing masks. They are cleaning their hands regularly. They are avoiding unnecessary contact. And people are keeping social distance.
In fact, when I saw you match here I was wondering why the parade was different today. Only to later realize there was social distance.
BUT YOUR EXCELLENCY,
Because of your intervention as you mobilized the government to provide guidelines,
Every Kenyan across this country is now part of the big army to try and deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
As a people, we are confident that under your leadership, the Kenyan government will take the necessary decisions.
And I am calling on leaders across the divide and Kenyans across the nation to work with you and the government to make sure that we mitigate and minimize the effects of this pandemic as we work out the new normal.
Because it looks obvious that there will be a new normal.
And if we can fashion out that new normal, then we can move into the phase of ensuring that we deal with the effects.
How to open our schools and businesses, what kind of support we can give to our SMEs, and how we are going to open our places of worship.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
We are confident that under your leadership, we will have a new normal, and Kenya will move into the future the same way we have overcome our challenges in the past.
Finally, Kenyans are praying for you. Kenyans are praying for their government and Kenyans are praying for our nation.
Many spiritual leaders across this land are praying.
In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic has made everybody realize our inadequacy and what God can do.
Your excellency, this is your day, the nation is waiting because we are at a very peculiar place.
YOUR EXCELLENCY SIR.
